ARRI at the Venice Film Festival

On September 4th ARRI hosted a cocktail event for filmmakers at the 2016 Venice Film Festival, attended by international cinematographers, directors, producers, operators and other industry professionals. ARRI products showcased at the event included ALEXA SXT, ALEXA Mini, AMIRA, the Anamorphic Ultra Wide Zoom and Master Anamorphic lenses, as well as L-Series and SkyPanel LED lights. Representatives from ARRI Media were also present to highlight the company's postproduction, co-production and distribution services.

Immediately prior to the cocktail event, ARRI interviewed three of the cinematographers who were attending.

Venice 2016: interview with Manuel Alberto Claro DFF

Cinematographer Manuel Alberto Claro DFF shares his experiences shooting Amat Escalante’s film THE UNTAMED with the director’s own ALEXA Mini, a camera Claro quickly took a shine to.

Cinematographer Manuel Alberto Claro DFF spoke to ARRI about his experiences shooting Amat Escalante's film THE UNTAMED with the director's own ALEXA Mini, a camera Claro quickly took a shine to for its compact form, light weight and ease of use. Escalante went on to (jointly) win the Silver Lion for Best Director with THE UNTAMED, an unusual combination of social realist family drama and psychosexual supernatural thriller. "We wanted to have a very naturalistic look so that the 'normal' story in the movie had this immediacy and you could relate to it," said Claro. "I like to do handheld and [the Mini] it's light and I have access to all the menus right there; it's a very flexible camera."

Venice 2016: interview with Davide Manca

Cinematographer Davide Manca discusses how he used the ALEXA XT and ARRI lights to pursue a soft, colorful look and fluid, handheld camerawork on director Roan Johnson’s film PIUMA (FEATHER). Photos by Stefano Montesi.

Anglo-Italian director Roan Johnson's movie PIUMA (FEATHER) is about a pregnant 18-year-old and her supportive boyfriend -- both still in school -- who are determined to keep their baby despite the objections of their less-than-inspiring families. Cinematographer Davide Manca described how he used the ALEXA XT camera and ARRI lighting fixtures to pursue a soft, colorful look for the film, utilizing fluid, handheld camerawork. "As soon as I read this screenplay I decided to use ALEXA," said Manca. "To render this freshness, this clear sky, I could not have used a better camera and the result satisfies me, so I am really happy because I think the choice was correct."

Venice 2016: interview with Vincent Biron

Vincent Biron, director and cinematographer of PRANK, speaks with ARRI about working with the AMIRA camera for its ergonomic design and suitability for a fast, flexible and responsive shooting style.

Canadian filmmaker Vincent Biron sat down with ARRI to share his experiences working with the ARRI AMIRA camera as director and cinematographer on PRANK, a teenage coming-of-age story set in Quebec. With an extremely low budget but a determination to avoid a 'cheap' look, Biron chose AMIRA for its stunning visuals, ergonomic design and suitability for a fast, flexible and responsive shooting style. "For this film, it was my first feature and I intentionally did it on a really, really small scale because I wanted to have the liberty to do whatever I want, whenever I wanted," said Biron. "My choice of camera came down to the ergonomics."

One of the notable successes at this year's festival was the Russian-German co-production PARADISE, which was directed by Andrei Konchalovsky and shared the Silver Lion prize for Best Director with THE UNTAMED. ARRI was heavily involved in the production of PARADISE, with ARRI Rental supplying an ALEXA Mini camera package and ARRI Media providing services that included picture and sound postproduction, Webgate cloud-based file management and international distribution through ARRI World Sales.

Besides the Silver Lion, PARADISE also won the Soundtrack Stars Award for Best Soundtrack, the UNICEF Award, the Premio Bisato Prize and the Padre Nazareno Taddei Prize.